OSCE Secretary General noted positive changes in the settlement of frozen conflicts, with an agreement on a meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani President as an important step forward.
“We’re in talks with conflicting parties. At present, we’re working to arrange a meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders. Hope it will take place before the yearend,” Lamberto Zannier said in an interview to ITAR-TASS.
“The OSCE goal is to support the parties’ intention to follow the political settlement line, allowing no other alternatives,” Zanier stressed.
The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Jacques Faure of France, and James Warlick of the United States of America) and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, traveled to the region November 4-5 to continue their efforts to help the sides find a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
They met with Azerbaijani President Aliyev in Baku on November 4, and Armenian President Sargsyan in Yerevan on November 5, to discuss issues of importance for a settlement. They also met with the Foreign Ministers and the Defense Ministers of both countries.
“The Presidents have confirmed their intention to meet in November 2013 to clarify their positions on a settlement and to discuss the way forward,” they said. “The Co-chairs continue to work on arrangements for the forthcoming summit. The Co-Chairs call upon the sides to exercise restraint on the ground as well as in their public statements. Military action, particularly at this moment, can only be seen as an attempt to damage the peace process.”
